


Plans We Made For Ourselves

by stas22



Category: One Direction (Band), Zayn Malik (Musician)
Genre: F/M, M/M, idk we will see where this goes, more will be added as i continue to upload
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-09
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2019-02-12 15:42:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12962676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stas22/pseuds/stas22
Summary: Young & Hungry AU no one asked forzayn is a recent uni grad with loads of debt in desperate need of a job, liam is a famous football player who needs a personal chef.niall, harry, louis, and other fandom favorites will be along for the ride(aka i suck at summaries)





	1. Cover Art

**Author's Note:**

> idk we will see where this goes lol
> 
> i am not a writer so things probably wont be perfect sorry!  
> also not british but i wish i was, so i dont really know how to make it seem british. let me know if you have any tips
> 
> i own no one and nothing.


	2. Chapter One

"Get up!"  
Zayn Malik groaned as he shoved his face deeper into his pillow, ignoring the bellowing in his ear. He had been sleeping peacefully on his lumpy murphy bed in the living room until an angry Niall Horan jumped on the bed and shouted in his ear.  
"Zayn Malik I am not joking, you get up right this instant!" Niall slapped the back of Zayn's head causing Zayn to yelp and lift his head from his pillow, looking through bleary eyes at the shadow of his roommate and best friend undoubtedly scowling at him. Why the hell Niall bothered to wake him up when it was still dark out was beyond him.  
"Could this not have waited until the sun was up?" Zayn mumbled, rubbing his fists against his eyes.  
"The sun IS up, Zayn. You just can't tell it's daytime because you put black drapes over the windows." Niall got up and pulled open the drapes causing blinding sun to stream in and making Zayn wince at the brightness.  
"Okay, okay I get it, I'm up now." Zayn pushed his blankets back and got up, walking into the kitchen blindly while yawning and scratching his stomach above his boxer shorts. He stopped in front of the sink and grabbed a glass, putting it under the faucet and turning the nob for water to come out. After a few seconds Zayn opened his eyes when he heard no sound of water and found that there was, in fact, no water streaming out of the faucet. Zayn just blinks slowly, still half asleep and not fully comprehending anything. He turns to look at Niall, who is standing next to him with his arms crossed and his eyebrow raised.  
"Water's not working." Niall says helpfully.   
Zayn looks back down at the sink again, before it finally registers and he turns the nob to off again and steps away.  
"So I'm guessing our utilities check bounced this month." Zayn says sheepishly, rubbing at the back of his neck.  
"Looks like it." Niall responds, nodding. He sighs and uncrosses his arms, leaning on his hands on their small, rickety kitchen table. "Z, I know that we just graduated a couple of months ago, and the job market is hard, but you gotta find something, mate. My bartending job is only bringing in so much and the student loans aren't covering things anymore."  
Zayn frowns, feeling bad that Niall has been stressing out over this lately.   
"I'll find something, I promise." Zayn offers gently. Niall looks at him for a minute before his face softens and he moves around the table to hug his best mate.  
"It'll all be okay. Just got to get out there and take what you can get." Zayn nods and squeezes Niall tight. After a moment he sniffs.  
"What are the chances that Mrs. Hubert across the hall will let us use her shower if we promise to take out her trash for a while? 'Cause you stink mate."   
Niall laughs, shoving him away and Zayn lets his sunshine of a best mate distract him from his concerns.  
**********************  
Zayn hurries up the stairs, cursing himself for not giving up on his cigarette addiction as he pants out of breath when he reaches the penthouse floor. His favorite professor used to be a trainer for a football team before he retired to teach physical training and nutrition at Zayn's university, and he was able to hook him up with an interview for a football player in need of a personal chef.  
Zayn didn't know much about football or this particular player, but the fact that this guy could hire a a personal chef who specialized in sports and training nutrition, and lived in a fancy penthouse clued him in that his professor must have downplayed his own former job role.  
Almost late due to his crappy beat up car falling apart on him yet again, Zayn took a moment to compose himself and try to catch his breath, straightening his black dress shirt and sleek grey tie and smoothing out his grey dress pants. Finally as ready as he would probably get, Zayn knocked on the front door. After a moment the door opened and a goofy smiled, tall lad with a curly mop of hair and outrageously bright clothing appeared in front of him.  
"Well hello there." The man said, all the while looking Zayn up and down without the slightest hint of subtlety. His voice was deep and warm, words drawn out of his accent.   
"Hi I'm Zayn, I'm here for an interview of personal chef." Zayn said quickly, trying to speed things up since he was already close to being late.  
"Ah yes," The lad smiled brighter. "I'm afraid you have to use the service entrance though. To the left." And with that, he shut the door.  
Zayn blinked at the almost rude gesture, but the man was too nice and cheerful for it to really be considered rude. He rushed around the corner and found another door, knocking on it. The door opened to the same lad with the same large smile.  
"Nope, next one." And closed the door again.   
Zayn huffed and rolled his eyes before running down the hall to the next door. Lord this must be a large apartment.  
This time when the other lad opened the door, he stepped back and swept his hand to the side, letting Zayn in.  
Zayn took in the penthouse apartment as he walked in, an open floor plan allowed for the first thing he saw to be a sunken living room with a huge flat screen TV, every game set imaginable and the type of comfy looking furniture that could only be expected in a "man cave". There was also a perfect view of the terrace which was decked out with a comfy patio set, a fire pit and dining table overlooking the city. And last but not least, a large industrialized kitchen which had Zayn's hands twitching at the thought of being able to use.   
This is it, Zayn thought, this is what heaven looks like.  
"Wow, you could fit my entire apartment into the living room." Zayn said, astonished.  
The other lad laughed and clapped him on the back with a large hand.   
"I'm Harry, the housekeeper. You'll be meeting with Louis, the personal trainer-slash-personal assistant for the interview. He's just finishing up with someone else at the moment."   
Zayn nodded, trying not to get overcome by nerves at the mention of another applicant. Personal chef isn't necessarily the hardest job in the world, but being fresh out of uni, Zayn was feeling a little under qualified even for this. At that moment, two men came from another room in the apartment chatting away. Zayn almost fell to the ground when he saw one was none other than George Strauss, one of the up and coming chef's in the country. Last Zayn heard, George had opened up a whole new restaurant and was filming a tv show out of it. Why would he need this job.  
"Well you definitely have my vote, George." The other lad said to him. He was short, with a lean athletic build. His blue eyes were noticeable from across the room, reminding him of Niall, and had scruffy stubble across his attractive face. His brown hair was shaggy and looked good in an unkempt way.   
His arms are littered with tattoos, shown because his sleeves are pushed up to his elbows, and he looks comfy in a sweatshirt and joggers. In fact, both George and this man look fairly dressed down for an interview and Zayn suddenly feels much more self-conscious. He looks up to meet Harry's shimmering green eyes and is met with another smile and a shrug.   
"I can assure you that you will be hearing from me very soon." The man smiles at George, ushering him out the door. Then he turns to Zayn and Harry and frowns.  
"And who is this?" He asks, far less pleasant than he had been with George.  
"This is Zayn," Harry answers, pushing him forward. Zayn stumbles and glares back at him. "He's your next interview."  
The man looks unimpressed. "Ah yes, the recent uni grad. Sorry mate, but there really is no need for an interview, I mean did you see who I just let out?"  
Zayn frowns and looks towards the door. "Yeah that's pretty impressive."  
"Exactly." The man nods. "So you mind as well just go, Harry can show you out."  
"Louis," Harry interrupts, sounding fairly chastising toward the other man. "At least give him the interview."  
"But why?" The other man, Louis, whines. "George is so cool. There's no way this kid can beat that out."  
"It's called being professional." Harry answers sternly. Louis pouts.  
"It's called unnecessary." Louis sneers. Then he sighs. "Fine, tell me about yourself, kid."  
Zayn frowns at being called kid again, assuming that both Louis and Harry are close in age to him.   
"Uhm, my name is Zayn Malik." He starts slowly, a little thrown off and not seeming to remember his interview etiquette.   
"I recently graduated from uni with a degree in nutrition specializing in physical training nourishment, and my professor recommended this job-"   
"Uh-huh, uh-huh, yeah that's great." Louis replies, arms crossed and eyes rolling, the epitome of bored. "Listen this is pointless-"  
"Please," Zayn cuts off, feeling the chance completely slipping away. "I am desperate here. I have loads of student loans to pay off and they just shut our water off because we couldn't afford the utilities expense this month. I'm a hard worker, and I really love cooking."  
He hears Harry coo in sympathy behind him and watches as Louis remains impassive in front of him. The latter opens his mouth to say something when someone comes in the front door, causing all of their attention to shift. He hears Louis mutter a curse under his breath but is too distracted by the newest addition to care.   
The man who walked through the door is unbelievably gorgeous. He's tall with lean muscles and broad shoulders, soft looking brown hair thats just long enough on top to form a little curl by his forehead, and warm brown eyes that Zayn finds himself getting sucked into. He's wearing a long plain white t-shirt and artfully ripped dark jeans with camel colored Timberlands and has tattoos decorating his hands and arms. Zayn has to shake himself when he realizes the smiling man is talking.  
"And who's this?" He asks, looking towards Zayn with interest. He hears Louis scoff like he is about to shove Zayn away but Harry pushes him to the side and steps forward.  
"This is Zayn Malik." He says, all smiles when talking to Liam, but throwing a glare at Louis. "He's here to interview for the personal chef job."  
The man's eyebrows raise in shock.  
"But I was just telling him that the position has just been filled, so an interview wasn't necessary." Louis adds, shoving himself to the front of the group. The other man frowns.  
"Well, he should be able to interview at least, right?" The man asks. "And since I'm here now, maybe you could try out."  
"Try out?" Zayn questions with a raise of his eyebrow. The other man smiles for him brightly.  
"Yes. Like how when I wanted to join a football team I had to try out. So you can cook something for me, and it will be like you trying out for the job." Zayn finally caught on that this was his potential boss. The famous, and ridiculously attractive football player Liam Payne.   
Harry nudges Zayn, who must have frozen for a moment. Zayn starts nodding and makes his way to the kitchen. There he pulls on an apron and turns to find all three men sitting at the counter watching him.   
"Aren't you going to ask what I want?" Liam asks.  
"Uhm, no." Zayn answers, and Harry snickers while Louis scoffs. "I'm a pretty good judge when it comes to guessing what people will like. It's like a sixth sense, or summat."  
Liam just nods and smiles, gesturing with his hands for him to get to it.  
He swallows and gets started.  
Within twenty minutes, Zayn is putting a plate down in front of Liam, who looks up at him with a raised eyebrow.  
"What is this?" Liam asks, picking up one of the doughy bundles.  
"Samosas." Zayn says. "Family specialty."   
With that, Liam takes a bite and immediately groans, causing Harry to reach towards the plate for a taste, and Liam slapping his hand away.  
"Bloody hell, this is fantastic!" Liam praises and Zayn can feel his cheeks heat up.  
"They'd be even more fantastic if you shared." Harry muttered but Liam just ignores him.  
"This is amazing," Liam says again. "But I don't understand, I've never even had this before, how could you have known that this would be something I would have wanted?"  
"Because," Zayn shrugs. "My mom always said samosas are the perfect food for any mood."   
Liam laughs. "I think I would have to agree."  
"Well that's all nice and good," Louis butts in. "However, Liam is in training mode. He won't be able to eat like this all of the time." He smirks like he finally tripped Zayn up.  
"Actually, I make samosas in a fairly healthy way so they won't disturb his regular caloric intake too much, and still adds in daily nutrients he should be getting. So every so often, they are quite all right for him to have."   
Liam is smiling brightly at him and Louis is frowning and Zayn is starting to feel a little light-headed.  
"I think you would be a great personal chef." Liam states. "And I host a lot of get togethers and parties for the team, so I can imagine your food will be a hit."   
"Does... does that mean I'm hired?" Zayn asks, shocked.   
"YES!" Liam says and Harry yells at the same time, while Louis groans and slumps so his head hits the counter.  
"Thank you. Thank you so much, you have no idea how badly I need this!" Zayn feels so flustered, amazed that he actually got the job.  
"Hey, it's no problem. You deserve it." Liam says genuinely.  
"Oh this is gonna be fun!" Harry claps his hands and pulls Zayn into a hug.  
"I want to go on the record saying that I do not support this." Louis points out. Liam just nods, a small smile on his face as he watches Zayn celebrate with Harry. "Noted, and ignored."


	3. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me tell you, no one is more surprised than me that this is actually being updated. 
> 
> working at a gym for 6 hours and being insanely bored is amazing for my writing i guess.

It's been a week since Zayn started working for Liam and he could honestly say he never expected to have a job like this in his life. So far his daily routine looked a little something like this:  
1\. Stumble into Liam's penthouse at ass-o'clock in the morning to make Liam a protein shake before his run and trip to the gym.  
2\. Get slapped on the back of his head by Louis when he accidentally falls asleep sitting at the counter.  
3\. Make a healthy and replenishing breakfast for Liam to have when he gets back from the gym.  
4\. Endure some sort of snarky comment from Louis about his hair, or his clothes, or his stumbling over his words when Liam looks at him with that eye-crinkling smile.  
5\. Hang out with Harry, who he is surprised to find he has a lot in common with and actually really likes, while waiting for Liam to get back from practice.  
6\. Having some snacks and dinner prepared for when Liam and his football teammates come back to watch a game on TV or play video games all night.  
7\. Get kicked out of the room by Louis after serving the food because Louis thinks he would embarrass him and Liam in front of the other guys.  
8\. Head home and hang out with Niall before falling asleep on the couch.  
So really, other than the early mornings and Louis's unexplainable annoyance with him, the job is great. And he and Niall are once again able to enjoy the special things in life like heat, electricity and running water.  
So when he blindly let himself into the penthouse at ass-o'clock on Monday morning to see Liam at the counter in nothing but grey sweatpants making out with a pretty brunette in nothing but a long t-shirt, Zayn realized it wasn't all happy perks working for Liam.  
Zayn stood there frozen watching the two of them until they separated and became aware of his presence. Liam smiled bashfully and wiped his mouth, pulling the giggling girl into his side.  
"Oh, hey Zayn." Liam said. "This is Sophia, my girlfriend. Soph, this is my new chef, Zayn."  
"Ah so this is who's cooking has been giving you all that extra energy to burn off." Sophia giggles as she nuzzles into Liam's side. Zayn has to fight the urge to gag at the innuendo, and instead continues to stand there like a lump, not responding.  
"Anyway," Liam adds, pulling away from Sophia and walking over to Zayn, putting a hand gently on his arm and causing him to melt a little from his frozen status. "We just came down to get some refreshments and I guess we got a little distracted." Liam at least has the decency to blush while Sophia just smirks behind him.  
Zayn is still fighting off the shock of Liam having a girlfriend, since nothing had been mentioned to him before, and starts when Sophia flips her hair and slides back up to Liam, petting a perfectly manicured hand up his chiseled chest.  
"Well now that you are here, Sean, maybe you could make us a nice breakfast in bed." Sophia says to Zayn, at least he thinks because she clearly got his name wrong and hasn't even looked at him, just continued to suck on Liam's earlobe disgustingly. "There is a list of what I like posted on the fridge, make sure you follow how to make the coffee the way I like it, I can tell when it's made differently."  
Zayn starts to move into the kitchen, turning lights on as Sophia pulls Liam towards the stairs. Liam seems to hesitate though, and turns back to Zayn, blush still on his face.  
"Uhm, just the usual for me please, Zayn." Liam asks gently. "Thank you." And Zayn feels the annoyance seep out of his body, offering a soft smile back.  
"Of course, Leeyum." He says softly. Liam smiles at that and Zayn offhandedly notices the frown on Sophia's pretty face before she tugs Liam away.  
Zayn watches them walk off together, laughing and kissing, until they disappear upstairs and then lets out a deep sigh, dropping his head to the counter. This was gonna be harder than he thought.  
"Shit."  
****************************************************************************  
"You know, you're really going to have to become more of a morning person if you are going to be around Liam all of the time."  
Zayn made Sophia's complicated breakfast order and Liam's simple one and was now just waiting for Sophia's frou-frou coffee to be done, and was back to what was rapidly becoming a common position for him of sitting slouched over at the counter with his forehead pressed against the top. He looked up at Harry and scowled at him.  
"Oh wow, you are grumpier than usual. Who pissed in your cereal?" Harry asked as he shook off his coat before draping it over a chair and reaching for the still brewing fancy coffee meant for Sophia.  
"Don't!" Zayn shouts, moving to stop Harry from touching the expensive French press. Harry froze and just looked at him questioningly. "That's for Sophia, I've been waiting like 10 minutes for that to brew for her and if it's not ready to take up to her soon, I'm afraid of what might happen to me."  
Harry stayed frozen for a moment just staring at him, before throwing his head back and laughing. Zayn frowned and moved to sit down again. "What?" He asked. Harry sat next to him, a calmer chuckle coming out now than the outburst from a few seconds ago, and patted Zayn on the shoulder.  
"Ah I had a feeling the Sophia thing was going to be a problem." Harry says with a smirk, causing Zayn to raise an eyebrow at him.  
"What does that mean?"  
"So you met Sophia, how did that go?" Harry asks, ignoring Zayn's own question. Zayn sighs and gets up, finally making Sophia's coffee.  
"I walked in and they were half dressed making out at the counter. Right in that seat actually." He says nodding at the chair Harry is sitting in. Harry grimaces and stands up. "Liam introduced us and she called me Sean when asking me to make them breakfast in bed."  
"Ah classic, playing the name game." Harry chuckles again.  
"Once again, what does that mean?" Zayn asks, setting Sophia's coffee on the tray with the rest of the loved up couple's breakfast. Harry shrugs in response.  
"I had a feeling when Liam hired you that Sophia would have a problem with you." Zayn's jaw drops at that.  
"Why the hell would you think that?"  
"Because!" Harry says, like that fully answers it. When Zayn doesn't move to pick his jaw up off of the floor, Harry further explains. "You walk in here looking like a freaking super model with the amazing ability to cook and expect Liam's actual super model girlfriend not to be the slightest bit threatened?"  
It takes Zayn a moment to comprehend all of that and when he does he is just left with more questions. Harry seems to be able to tell because he just sits again and folds his hands patiently.  
"Okay so first: Sophia is an actual super model?" Zayn asks, more surprised than he probably should be at this. Harry nods.  
"Well when Liam met her, she was just starting out but she really took off when she started dating Liam." Harry explains. "His PR manager introduced them, I think she is a cousin or something. The whole thing screams 'inorganic' like it was a favor just to get her in the spotlight. But as you can see, she is actually very pretty and she has a good eye for fashion. So now she travels a lot for modeling and working with designers, which is why you haven't met her until now."  
"Okay..." Zayn takes all of that in. "But again, why would I be a threat, it's not like I'm up for the role of female super model any time soon."  
Harry rolls his eyes. "Because you are attractive and amazing at cooking, and she burns bread without even going near a toaster. She probably feels threatened because you are amazing and she is never around and Liam could take advantage of that."  
"But why?" Zayn asks, feeling thick for not understanding. "I mean she is super model, and I am freshly graduated from uni with a mountain of debt and working my first real job, not to mention I'm a GUY." This makes Harry laugh.  
"Please Zayn, Liam is the least shallow person ever. He would like you even if you lived on the streets and were missing an arm." Zayn narrows his eyes at Harry, who stops laughing. "Zayn, Liam isn't straight. He is bi, which is why his PR manager set him up with Sophia in the first place, to throw people off the scent. They just happened to actually like each other enough to actually date instead of just pretend."  
"So what you're saying is Liam could actually find me attractive?" Zayn feels dumbfounded, never expecting this.  
Harry crosses his arms and nods. "Not just could, mate, he definitely does. I could tell the moment he sat down to watch you make him that audition meal. Plus you are pretty much gorgeous enough to make anyone question their sexuality, and I know because Louis has been grumbling about it all week."  
Zayn's head snaps back up at this. "But Louis hates me."  
"Well mostly he is just annoyed that you are so attractive, but don't tell him I said that. I like my balls in tact."  
"Well Sophia doesn't have to worry because I desperately need this job and sleeping with the boss can cause nothing but bad things."  
"Or very, very good things." Harry adds with a smirk, which Zayn just glares at him for.  
"Besides, his management team seems fairly invested in keeping his bisexuality a secret, so I don't think they would be happy with me trying to entice him out of a pretty solid real relationship." Zayn tries not to sound upset by this idea, an instead tries to sound like he is making a grown-up decision. But really he is just thinking about how he could possibly date Liam if he wanted to.  
"Wow, big man you are." Harry says knowingly. "Anyway, I know she's a snake, but she really does only come around for a few days every couple of months so it won't be that bad for you."  
"That must be hard on Liam, having her gone so much." Zayn says sympathetically, though doing a mental happy dance at her being gone again soon.  
"Not really. I mean he is usually pretty busy with practice and he travels a fair bit for games himself. And while me and Louis are pretty close to him for being employees, he tends to have a pretty heavy social life and goes out a lot. In fact, it's only since you've been around that Liam makes it a point to be home as often as he does. I'd guess he's found a reason to be happy at home when Sophia is away. She really isn't as permanently in the picture as you seem to think." Harry adds with a pointed look at Zayn.  
Zayn gapes at that again and is still trying to figure out a way to grasp the information that Liam may like being around more just because Zayn is there, when Liam is suddenly clambering down the stairs and walking up to them, slapping a hand to Harry's back and smiling at Zayn.  
"Just came down here to grab the breakfast." He says happily. "Didn't want you to have to bring it up to us in bed, Zayn."  
Zayn snaps out of his own head and nods, having forgotten about bringing their breakfast up. Luckily the food and coffee is still steaming so he hands over the tray to a grateful looking Liam.  
"Wow this looks and smells great, Zayn. And usually I think whatever Sophia likes is gross but you really did a good job." Zayn hopes his blush isn't obvious at Liam's comment and watches as the other man starts walking away before he stops and walks back to them. "Actually I totally forgot that I wanted to ask you something, Zayn."  
Zayn holds his breath and tries not to get his hopes up that Liam is about to tell him that he pushed Sophia out the window and wants him to take her place in bed, instead telling Liam to go on.  
"I was hoping you could make a special dinner for tonight." Liam says, before leaning in and dropping his voice low for only him, Zayn and Harry to be able to hear. "When Soph and I come back tonight from the event we have to go to, I'm planning to propose over a romantic dinner on the terrace."  
Zayn's mouth drops open again and Harry gasps in shock. Zayn just nods numbly and Liam's answering smile is blinding.  
"Great, thank you so much! This is going to be amazing, and if she says yes, that means she will be around way more than just a few days every couple of months." And with that Liam bounds back up the stairs with the future Mrs. Payne's breakfast and Zayn is starting to turn blue from forgetting how to breathe.  
"Well, clearly I was very wrong." Harry states in disbelief and Zayn groans, dropping his head back to the counter.  
Of course.


End file.
